Eric Limer

Sure, firewalls are an important part of secure computing, but they aren't nearly as cool as their name suggests. You know, like an actual wall made out of fire. This firewall isn't exactly that either, but it's a step closer, and bears at least a passing resemblance to fire despite being a bit safer to touch.

The Firewall is an art installation whipped up by Aaron Sherwood and Mike Allison and is actually made up of spandex, not fire. When you apply pressure, it affects the volume and tempo of the music being played in conjunction. The Firewall's movement is monitored by a Kinect, and there's a switch on the frame that allows users to switch between that first, more serene setup and the second more aggressive one.

Is this the future of musical instruments? No probably not. Would it be super awesome to watch maybe five or six of these being played simultaneously? Yes, definitely. It's way cooler than that software that keeps bugging me to update it. [Vimeo]